Getting that tattoo was all you wanted a few years ago! Now getting rid of him is all he wants! According to research, at least 24% of people in the 18-50 age group have a tattoo and about 17% of them want to remove it. Well, if you are among those who want to remove their tattoos, you are not alone! Tattoos are meant to be permanent. So when you’re trying to remove them, success rates usually depend on the size of the pigment and the color of your skin. The good news is that with today’s advanced technology laser tattoo removal, you can easily get rid of that tattoo with the least amount of pain.

Sabrasion and dermabrasion

The deinking of tattoos has undergone many transformations in recent decades. There used to be a technique used called dermabrasion. This technique consists of scraping or sanding the tattoo. Another technique used is salabrasion. In this technique, the salt solution is rubbed into the skin, heated, and then scraped off. Both methods leave wounds when the tattoo is removed.

Surgery

By surgically removing the tattoo, it will most likely leave a scar. The process involves surgically removing the skin with the tattoo and sewing the adjoining skin together. It’s good for small tattoos and gets tricky when removing larger tattoos. In both cases, the procedure will definitely leave scars. Cryosurgery is also used to remove tattoos. This procedure freezes – burns tattoos with the help of liquid nitrogen and removes the tattoo.

Quality switched laser beams

The best known method of tattoo removal is to use quality switched laser beams. This beam looks for changes in contrast in skin tones and tattoo ink and then pulses intensely into the skin, breaking down the ink into particles small enough for the body to absorb.

The greater the contrast between the skin and the ink, the easier it will be to remove the tattoo. Black ink on people with fair skin is the easiest to remove and white fluorescent colors are the most difficult.

However, the tattoo cannot be removed in one go. There are at least five to twelve sessions and these sessions take at least 6 months to complete.

After laser tattoo removal too, the skin looks like burnt and medication is applied to bring it back to its normal state.

Whichever treatment option you choose, make sure you are fully aware of the amount of pain and scarring and your options for recovering from them. If your tattoo is small and the scars are going to go unnoticed, that’s another story, but if you have a large tattoo to remove, make sure you select the correct method and understand all the side effects and post-op care!